The present invention relates generally to wireless telephonic communications systems and pertains, more specifically, to antenna constructions and the installation of such antenna constructions in wireless telephonic communications systems and, in particular, cellular telephonic communication systems.
Antennas for wireless telephonic communications systems and, in particular, antennas for cellular systems, currently are proliferating and the proliferation is meeting with local resistance as more and more neighborhoods complain about the intrusion of unsightly antenna structures. Government agencies and communications providers continually must deal with local requests for removal of existing antennas and related structures, and with petitions to prevent the construction of such installations altogether. Attempts to hide or disguise cellular antenna installations thus far have met with little success. As a result, either cellular service or local aesthetics is compromised.
The present invention alleviates the problems of local aesthetics while, at the same time, providing better wireless telephonic communications service. As such, the present invention attains several objects and advantages, some of which are summarized as follows: Enables the placement of antennas for wireless telephonic communications systems on existing structures in an unobtrusive and effective manner; establishes a more effective antenna arrangement for cellular telephonic communications systems; enables a more aesthetically pleasing antenna arrangement for cellular telephonic communications systems; provides a relatively inexpensive antenna construction for use in connection with wireless telephonic communications systems, with greater effectiveness and less visual intrusion; provides an antenna construction which is inherently more resistant to weather and other environmental elements encountered in the field, enabling exemplary service over an extended service life.
The above objects and advantages, as well as further objects and advantages, are attained by the present invention which may be described briefly as an antenna construction for use in a wireless telephonic communications system wherein a plurality of such antenna constructions are mounted upon a corresponding plurality of existing structures by assembling each antenna construction with a projecting element of a corresponding existing structure in an aesthetically unobtrusive arrangement on the corresponding existing structure, the antenna construction comprising: a body member having a sleeve-like wall including a substrate of dielectric material, antenna elements integral with the substrate, and a receptacle portion for receiving the projecting element within the sleeve-like wall such that upon reception of the projecting element within the receptacle portion, the sleeve-like wall is juxtaposed with the projecting element essentially as a visual extension of the existing structure, with the assembled body member and projecting element presenting an aesthetically unobtrusive arrangement on the existing structure.
In addition, the present invention provides a method of making an antenna construction for use in a wireless telephonic communications system wherein a plurality of such antenna constructions are mounted upon a corresponding plurality of existing structures by assembling each antenna construction with a projecting element of a corresponding existing structure in an aesthetically unobtrusive arrangement on the corresponding existing structure, the method comprising: forming antenna elements integral with an elongate substrate of dielectric material; wrapping the substrate upon itself to establish a body member having a sleeve-like wall including a receptacle portion for receiving the projecting element within the sleeve-like wall such that upon reception of the projecting element within the receptacle portion, the sleeve-like wall is juxtaposed with the projecting element essentially as a visual extension of the existing structure, with the assembled body member and projecting element presenting an aesthetically unobtrusive arrangement on the existing structure.
Further, the present invention includes a method of providing an antenna construction in a wireless telephonic communications system wherein a plurality of such antenna constructions are mounted upon a corresponding plurality of existing structures by assembling each antenna construction with a projecting element of a corresponding existing structure in an aesthetically unobtrusive arrangement on the corresponding existing structure, the method comprising the steps of: forming a body member having a sleeve-like wall including a substrate of dielectric material, antenna elements integral with the substrate, and a receptacle portion for receiving the projecting element within the sleeve-like wall; and placing the sleeve-like wall over the projecting element for reception of the projecting element within the receptacle portion such that the sleeve-like wall is juxtaposed with the projecting element essentially as a visual extension of the existing structure, with the assembled body member and projecting element presenting an aesthetically unobtrusive arrangement on the existing structure.